Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract for the national cyber range capability, which allows potentially virulent code to be studied without compromising live computer systems.

The deal, announced Tuesday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $33.9 million and is a modification to a previous contract under the terms of a cost-plus-fixed fee agreement.

The national cyber range was originally developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, between 2009 and 2012 to allow for cyber war games and the study of code that may threaten computer systems. The range is now under the authority of the Defense Department Test Resources Management Center, and with the intent to operationalize Pentagon cyber capabilities.

Work on the contract will occur in Orlando, Fla., and is expected to be complete in May 2019.

More than $33.9 million has been obligated to Lockheed Martin from fiscal year 2017 and 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds at the time the contract was awarded.